Dead Dragons
The Snezhnian 1st Reconnaissance and Assault Squadron, colloquially called the "Dead Dragons", are a group of elite soldiers spoken of in legend in Snezhny. They are considered national heroes, with their identity in some ways synonymous with the country. The group encountered them at Rhezu where the party was told in no uncertain terms that Librem's interference in Snezhny was not appreciated. The group's membership is somewhat mutable, with aliases being assumed by different individuals over time. The party has encountered five members: Deodin Deodin (D-1) was the leader of the group, and wears a helmet that looks like a lion's head. He speaks calmly and seems to be predicated towards diplomacy rather than violence, but does carry a revolver. According to Piano Jack, Deodin was trained by Vavilov, using his technique of controlling the mind through the body to create a "flawless soldier." Deodin was ultimately unmasked as Rennick Lexington, the father of Karl. As a result of this encounter, he eventually decided to defect from the Snezhian government and, after the immediate conflict was resolved, left Snezhny. Dedva Dedva (D-2) is the group medic, a ten-foot-tall man in heavy armour with a horned helmet and spiked shield. He speaks Western Common with an unusual accent. His name was revealed to be Raimond Cartier, a dwarven man kidnapped from Nordica at a young age and forced into Lordinian military service. He was eventually rescued by Rennick Lexington and became loyal to him, joining the Librennian military alongside him and becoming a loyal follower of his command. At some point, he also underwent some sort of biological alteration thanks to his techniques as an alchemist, becoming permanently larger in size. He left Snezhny with Deodin/Rennick. Detri Detri (D-3) is a man who has the bearing of some sort of spellcaster. Deodin seems to seek his advice regularly. He wears black wizard's robes and covers his face with wrappings of cloth, his eyes veiled. His ungloved hands are the only clearly exposed skin in the entire team. When the party had a chance to converse at length with him, it became clear that Detri has sacrificed his sense of self to his role as a soldier, and considers himself solely an instrument of the will of Snezhny. Ten-Tongues recognizes that this loss of self is a product of Genbu is trying to claim Detri as a servant, and Detri acknowledges this. Piano Jack characterizes Detri as the most dangerous member of the Dragons; a diviner, illusionist, and expert of battlefield control, who cannot become a lich simply because he has nothing valuable enough to sacrifice to the ritual. Detri had tried to undo the party's progress in destroying the Lumenated explosive hidden under Snezhny, but disagreements within the group resulted in his being beaten soundly by the party and forced back to Gray Peak, where he snapped. He forced the garrison to evacuate through an emergency evacuation order, abducted Vavilov and completed a ritual to summon Pandemonium, killing himself in the process. Desheterya Desheterya (D-4) is a woman who wields a rifle capable of firing gas clouds and silenced pellets laced with poisons or germ warfare agents. She was tasked with guarding the Plague Zone by herself using guerrilla warfare tactics, but ultimately failed to stop the party and was forced to retreat. Her voice is as yet unknown, as her voice seems to be masked by some sort of noise-making device in her mask that prevents others from hearing her speak. Though her identity was initially so obscure that the party was not even certain she was a woman, she eventually unmasked herself in order to take leadership of Snezhny under her true identity: Antonia Ismaylova. She is a capable combatant at long range, dealing exceptional damage to targets that are even very far away from her and crippling their ability to move quickly. She also sets traps expertly and can use them in conjunction with her teleportation and invisibility-granting magics to confuse and disable targets at a distance. However, she seems relatively defenseless at close range and would sooner flee from combat when it gets into close quarters. Depyat Depyat (D-5) was a short man in full plate themed to look like a barbed devil. He wielded an elven curved blade and appeared capable of speaking only Elven. He was quick to anger and evil by nature. In combat he called upon the angry dead to attack his enemies. Depyat was also empowered by his own obsessive fury, dealing increasing damage as he focused upon a single opponent and stripping away any magic that empowers them. After first defeating Depyat in combat the party discovered that he was an undead creature similar to a lich, including immunity to cold and electricity. After several other encounters they finally destroyed him and claimed his phylactery. Sunset was able to use the item to soothe Depyat's angry spirit, and he now resides as a ghost in the temple of Chihiro. Category:NPC Category:Organization Category:Snezhny